^aDepartment of Political Science, Northeastern Illinois University, 5500 North St. Louis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60625-4699, USA. E-mail: sbae@neiu.edu

Abstract

This article investigates the way in which the Council of Europe enforced the norm against capital punishment in Europe. The Council of Europe, through both moral persuasion and centripetal pressure, compelled its member states to adopt the regionally promoted human rights standard. Ukraine, where the very last execution in Europe took place, accepted the norm after a number of years of resistance and in the face of public opposition to abolition. It was possible because of the adamant role of the Council of Europe in attempting to build a death penalty-free zone in Europe and Ukraine's strategic will to be integrated within the European regional community.